No racing to report on, but who cares, we have the BIG ONE starting on Saturday in Corsica. Tour de France time again and it’s like that’s the only thing happening in the World of cycling. Not quite, but we do have all the Tour stuff and anything else that has happened since the week-end here in EuroTrash Thursday. Tour, Tour and Tour coffee time!

Win a Signed RadioShack Leopard Jersey
Here is a really easy competition from First Endurance, all you have to do is “Like” their Facebook page and you have a chance to win a RadioShack Leopard team jersey, here is the link: firstendurance.com/jersey

TOP STORY: McQuaid and Cookson Battle it Out!
Brian Cookson held a press conference in Paris to formally launch his UCI presidency manifesto. His message was of “Restoring Trust, Leading Change” with six points that covered a wide range. He wants rebuild trust and the credibility in the UCI, improve anti-doping, more cycling globalisation, help women’s cycling, overhaul elite road cycling and improve cycling position in the Olympic Movement. This all sound very good and commendable, but it does sound very familiar to what everyone else wants and what Pat McQuaid says he has been doing for the last eight years. The main difference is that he does want to set up an independent investigation in to the whole UCI, AFLD, USADA and WADA debacle over the Lance Armstrong/US Postal Team case, which McQuaid seems reluctant to go through with.

Pat McQuaid has hit back in his usual manner, saying “half baked, fundamentally flawed and financially impractical.” The Irishman also points out that Cookson is not an elected IOC member, but I guess the lifetime banned Olympian was not a member at one time. The most petty comment must be a jibe at Cookson’s choice of venue for his launch; Paris. McQuaid points out that the UCI was originally founded in Paris without Britain, McQuaid points out; “It was launched specifically to replace the then International Cycling Association which these countries felt was too dominated by Great Britain, hence the choice of Paris. Britain was even specifically excluded from joining the newly launched UCI for a number of years,” which if you ask me is a bit of a weak argument.

Both parties could argue it out and another candidate could come along and scoop the main prize away from them. Maybe that’s what this needs, more candidates.

Meanwhile… the Tour Hits Corsica!

Tour de France News:

Team Garmin-Sharp Announces Tour De France Roster
Team Garmin-Sharp today announced its much-anticipated 2013 Tour de France roster. The squad for the centennial edition of the Tour de France features 2012 Giro d’Italia champion and former top-ten finisher, Ryder Hesjedal, young American Andrew Talansky, making his Tour de France debut, 2013 Liege-Baston-Liege winner Dan Martin, two-time top-ten finisher Christian Vande Velde, top-ten finisher Tom Danielson, stage winner David Millar, recent Giro d’Italia stage winner Ramunas Navardausaks, and is rounded-out by Jack Bauer and Rohan Dennis, both making their Tour de France debuts.

“We have a deep team with a lot of options as we head into the Centennial Tour de France. Our goal is to animate the race and with an aggressive strategy, we will aim to place high in the general classification,” said Jonathan Vaughters, CEO, Team Garmin-Sharp.

“We have a few guys capable of achieving that – Ryder’s won a Grand Tour and placed in the top 10 of the Tour de France; Andrew is young and while it’s his first Tour de France, he is coming off a great season; and Dan Martin is having a breakout year with his wins in Catalunya and Liege-Baston-Liege. We will protect our best GC options and see how the race shakes out. Our approach is a little unconventional, but we’ve managed to come up with surprises every year at the Tour and we’re hoping for the same as we head into Corsica.”

“We have a good mix of guys with a lot of experience combined with young riders competing in their first Tour de France,” said Charly Wegelius, Director Sportif. “We have options when it comes to general classification and we also have riders who are capable of stage wins, so we’ll be looking for those opportunities as well. It’s going to be an exciting three weeks.”Thanks to the Garmin-Sharp team.

Euskaltel-Euskadi Tour de France Team
As usual the Basque team is quite climber heavy in their team selection for this year’s Tour. It’s a strong team that would hope not to under achieve as it does tend to do. Igor Anton should be their GC man, but you can expect action from Astarloza, Izaguirre (both of them) Nieve and Pérez. As the only non Spanish (he is French/Basque) rider on the team; Romain Sicard will be looking for a break to get into. Whither or not the team will miss Samuel Sanchez we will see.

FDJ for the Tour de France
The new French National champion; Arthur Vichot will be in the FDJ team on the Tour start line in Corsica on Saturday. He said: “To wear the blue-white-red jersey during the 100th Tour de France that will be held completely in France is going to be exceptional.” FDJ, along with Europcar are the stronger of the French teams, as well as Vichot they also have Nacer Bouhanni for the sprint with strongmen Jérémy Roy and Pierrick Fédrigo.

Europcar riders for the Tour
Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland are the main men for Europcar at the Tour de France with a very young team to back them up. Voeckler will want to retain his KOM jersey from last year, but this year is a much different race from last year with tougher climbs and more pure climbers, so that might be difficult. Rolland on the other hand has been in the news for the wrong reasons lately due to his questionable cortisol levels and Achilles injury. Europcar are always strong in their home race and should be seen at the front of the peloton.

Cofidis Tour Team
Cofidis have named a mixed team for the 100th Tour de France kicking off this Saturday in Corsica. The team is mostly French, with Garcia and Navarro from Spain and the Estonian Rein Taaramae. It’s a strong team, but without any GC aspirations.

In the team staff, that will be directed by Orlando Maini and Bruno Vicino and by assistant Marzano, there will be mechanics Bortoluzzo, Pengo and Viganò, masseurs Bertolone, Bolzonaro, Capelli, Napolitano and Redaelli, driver Bozzolo, press office managers Appiani and Carlo Saronni, team doctors De Grandi and Guardascione.

Most of the cyclists (7) will be from Italy, one (Niemiec) will be from Poland and Serpa from Colombia. Both Serpa and Niemiec, in addition to Ferrari, had already taken part in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

Average age of the team is 29 years old: Cimolai (23) is the youngest, Serpa (34) the oldest.

Tour de France 2013 will be the debut of Merida bikes in Grande Boucle.

Ag2r-La Mondiale Team for the Tour
Jean-Christophe Péraud will be the leader of the French Ag2r-La Mondiale team at the Tour de France. It’s an all French team with no real super-stars, maybe they will be stage win hunting, and there can’t be much else for them.

Movistar for the Tour de France
In great mood after four victories achieved in the last four days, taking their season tally up to 23 so far, Movistar Team will be heading into the most prestigious cycle race in the world. The 100th edition of the Tour de France starts on Saturday in Corsica, with the nine riders selected by Eusebio Unzué for the French Grand Tour travelling to the island on Wednesday. José Luis Arrieta and José Luis Jaimerena will be the Blue team’s sports directors for a nine-man roster composed by:
Alejandro Valverde, Rui Costa, Nairo Quintana, Andrey Amador, Jonathan Castroviejo, Rubén Plaza, Imanol Erviti, Iván Gutiérrez and José Joaquín Rojas.

Nicholas Roche – The Multinational All-Rounder
Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s Nicholas Roche will be doing his fifth Tour de France when the race is being launched this coming Saturday. Being a versatile rider, he has done very well on his own in several stage races finishing 6th overall in the Vuelta a Espana in 2010 and 12th overall in Tour de France in 2012 plus top ten rankings in a handful of other stage races. He was born in Ireland but spent most of his life in France making him a perfect fit for the international peloton where a dozen different languages are spoken:

What’s the main language at Team Saxo-Tinkoff?
“We mainly speak English on the road but in the times of stress and physical exhaustion we sometimes tend to turn back to our primary language. So sometimes it’s Italian and I’ll even try Spanish if needed too but I’m not really fluent.”

How do you feel about having to ride the Tour again?
“This is going to be my fifth Tour and I feel great. I’m really looking forward to be hitting the French roads. It’s always a special moment to ride the Tour and it’s the race that I’m looking forward to the most every year. This year is rather special however, as I have the opportunity to be part of an overall winning team with Alberto as our captain.”

What is your role in the upcoming Tour de France?
“My role has not yet been completely defined but I will mainly be helping Alberto during the mountains stages. Having said that, I’ll also be playing an important role during the team time trial and on the hilly stages where we’ll keeping Alberto out of trouble.”

In your opinion, who’s Alberto’s biggest rivals?
“I think the biggest rival will be Chris Froome for sure. But the Tour de France is special compared to other races and anything can happen in this race, which is really what makes the Tour so great and exciting. It’s long and if you have a bad day on an important stage race, it’s going to cost you your position in the GC.”

What would an overall win for Alberto mean to you?
“It would be a tremendous experience. I would really love to enter the circuit of Champs Elysees with the yellow jersey sitting behind us as we ride to the finish line. I want to live the experience and thrill of defending and fighting for the jersey, feeling you are a part of something very big.”

Roman Kreuziger Predicts Other Rivals than Froome
Team Saxo-Tinkoff’s 27 year-old Roman Kreuziger made an early statement that he was a rider for the future when he won the junior World Championships in 2004. Since then, the Czech all-rounder has won Tour de Suisse in 2008 and Tour de Romandie in 2009. Two times, he has been in the Tour de France top-10 and in 2011, he finished fifth in the Giro d’Italia. Wearing the Team Saxo-Tinkoff jersey, he launched away in the finale of this year’s Amstel Gold Race and soloed his way to a perfect win in the Dutch one-day classic.

Confirming his form finishing third overall in this year’s Tour de Suisse, Roman is looking sharp and ready for this year’s Tour de France, which will be his 5th: “Every Tour de France is different and every time, I’m really excited to take part in the race. However, this year is a little bit different for me. In my opinion, we have the best Grand Tour rider in the world and I’m so ready to support Alberto. My most important support will be executed in the mountains but I assume I can do some good in the team time trial as well,” says Roman and continues: “We have a very strong team but we’re up against a longer list of rivals. Everyone’s talking about Froome, Valverde and Rodriguez. But if you look the start list there are many other very strong competitors such as Jakob Fuglsang, Cadel Evans, Tejay van Garderen and Richie Porte.”

Being a strong enough rider to aim for a good position in the GC himself, Roman is unselfishly looking forward to filling out the role as a supportive climber to support Alberto Contador in the high mountains:
“The objective is perfectly clear. We want win the Tour with Alberto. That´s the goal for our team. We have three long and very hard weeks ahead of us. My own personal ambition is no other than the team’s ambition. Every one of us in the team are motived and focused to give our very best in the 100th Tour de France.” Thanks to Nico Roche, Roman Kreuziger and the Saxo-Tinkoff team.

PEZ Tour de France Fantasy Mini League
If you fancy being the DS of you own Tour de France team, then you can with Velogames Fantasy Cycling. Choose your riders and enter up to five mini league and PEZ has one of its own, league code No. 24212814. You can also use the PEZ jersey as your team jersey; it’s in the “Special” section. You’ve got till Saturday to sign up, it’s just for fun, good luck, but don’t beat me!

Tour de France Retro
Here is a great bit of Tour retro film; “Vive le Tour” written and directed by Louis Malle, who is probably more famous for films like; Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (1958),Lacombe Lucien (1974), Atlantic City (1981), My Dinner with Andre (1981). This short film on the Tour was made in 1962.

Intelligentsia Cup Prairie State Cycling Series
• Professional Bike Racing Returns to the City of Chicago for the first time since 2009
Chicago, IL – June 25, 2013 – For the first time since 2009, professional bike racing returns to the City of Chicago.

“The start-finish line of the 2013 Chicago Criterium will be at the front door of Intelligentsia Coffee’s roasting facility in Chicago’s Fulton Market neighborhood, just a block from Goose Island’s brewing facility”, said Lou Vasta of Vasta & Associates, Inc. “I can’t guess which will appeal to the bike racers more – the smell of freshly roasted Intelligentsia coffee or the smell of freshly brewed beer.”

Vasta continued, “We’re going to have a full day of exciting amateur and pro bike racing starting a little before 11:00 am on Saturday, July 13th and continuing until the twilight hours, plus live music, great food and of course Intelligentsia coffee and Goose Island beer. Throw in a spectacular view of the Chicago skyline and what’s not to like?”

The Chicago Criterium is the second stage of the 2013 Intelligentsia Cup Prairie State Cycling Series. The Series consists of four other criterium-style bike races in the Chicago metro area plus a crit in Kenosha, WI and a road race in the bucolic Village of Sharon, WI just southeast of Lake Geneva. “We think the Chicago Crit is a great venue and an interesting 0.85 mile crit course for our racers”, said Marco Colbert, executive director of the series. “We are especially hoping that our Chicago racers will appreciate this unique urban venue.”

Intelligentsia Coffee founder Doug Zell continued, “We are thrilled to be bringing some of the best pro and amateur riders from around the US and world to race in and around Chicago. We look forward showcasing what this great city has to offer and delivering some blazingly fast races that will captivate even the most discerning spectator. We are excited to see great coffee in the mix with bike racing, not just at the start or finish of a training ride, but as a genuine supporter of what promises to be a premier series, the Intelligentsia Cup, in the United States.”

Trek Acquires WorldTour LicensePress Release: Trek Bicycle has reached an agreement with Leopard SA to obtain its WorldTour racing license to create a new team debuting in 2014. A named sponsor since the team’s inception in 2010, beginning next year Trek will assume ownership of the team.

While the new team’s organizational chart and roster of athletes has not been completed, Trek will work to conserve a large part of the existing team. Current General Manager Luca Guercilena will be retained to manage the team. Trek is currently engaged in negotiations with several marquee athletes that will be announced shortly.

“We’re thrilled to be able to reach this agreement with Leopard,” said Trek VP Joe Vadeboncoeur. “The team has established a great foundation of staff and athletes. Great Athletes Ride Trek is something we are incredibly passionate about and we are looking forward to everything the future holds with this new team. We will have the ability to create more and better marketing content. The rider’s nationalities represent our major markets and become an army of ambassadors at events all over the world. We can have better integration into new product development and the ability for hospitality and activation at events.”

“I am proud to hand over this project to the people at Trek Bicycle, who have been a very dependable and loyal partner over the past three years” said Leopard CEO Flavio Becca. “When we started in the summer of 2010 we had a blank canvas in our hands, a puzzle. Now, three seasons later, we have a team that has won some of the biggest races of cycling with Fabian Cancellara and put two Schleck brothers from Luxembourg together on the podium of the Tour de France. I am also especially pleased to have launched the professional career of a young talented rider like Bob Jungels and that the team has become a major player in professional cycling. I believe cycling has entered a new era, in which a bike manufacturer like Trek Bicycle takes on full ownership of a team. I have taken a lot of pleasure in running this project and I wish the team and all its members a bright future.”

Trek will begin the process of seeking partners for the new team immediately and looks forward to presenting the team plans to potential sponsors. RADIOSHACK LEOPARD TREK will operate under current management throughout the remainder of 2013.

New Sponsor for Team Sky
21st Century Fox have joined Team Sky as a sub-sponsor and will appear on the back of the rider’s shorts as well as on all the team vehicles. The deal came about due to the splitting of Sky’s owning company; News International and 21st Century Fox is expected to be formed after the split. It won’t change the team as it will still be known as Team Sky and be run by Sky Procycling.

Blanco has Become Belkin Pro Cycling TeamTwo and a half year Belkin title sponsorship agreement begins for the 100th Tour de France.

Press Release: The Blanco Pro Cycling Team announced that it has signed an agreement with Belkin, creator of people-inspired technology products. Renamed the Belkin Pro Cycling Team, the team will begin competing under its new name and logo at the 2013 Tour de France.

Chet Pipkin (founder and CEO): “Cycling relies on innovation to drive success and has a passionate, tech savvy fan base that follows the sport closely, which aligns really well with the Belkin brand,” said Chet Pipkin, Belkin’s founder and CEO. “Associating our Belkin and Linksys brands with this successful, well-established pro cycling team enables us to introduce ourselves to millions of people around the world and interact with them.”

Through the sponsorship, Belkin aims to elevate brand awareness on a global scale for both Belkin and the Linksys brand, which it acquired earlier this year. The team jersey, bib short, team clothing, bikes, vehicles, website and social media properties have been updated with the new Belkin Pro Cycling Team logo and colours: black, white and Belkin green, and will feature both the Belkin and Linksys logos.

Richard Plugge (General Manager): “With 19 victories this year and a new title sponsor, 2013 is shaping up to be a dream season for our team,” said Richard Plugge, general manager of Belkin Pro Cycling. “As a company, Belkin shares our values and global ambitions, so we are very excited to have them on board as our sponsor. We look forward to two and a half years of shared successes.”
Belkin has signed on as title sponsor through 2015.

Hushovd And Pinotti Will Debut National Jerseys In AustriaPress Release: Norwegian road champion Thor Hushovd and Italian time trial champion Marco Pinotti will debut their new national team jerseys for the BMC Racing Team when they take the start at the Tour of Austria Sunday.

History Of Good Results In Austria
Pinotti won the individual time trial at last year’s race and has his eye on the Stage 7 race against the clock after winning his sixth national time trial title on Sunday. “With Fabian Cancellara being there, it won’t be easy to win again,” Pinotti said. “But I will look at my performance as a further chance to check the numbers and get some feedback.” Hushovd said he is particularly motivated for a stage win after winning his national road race in his hometown while also earning a runner-up finish in the time trial. “Since I have good form now, I would obviously like to get a stage win,” Hushovd said. “But the first couple of days are mountain-top finishes to get it all started, so I will have to look at the details on the other stages so I can try and win one.” Assistant Director Jackson Stewart said the eight-day race has traditionally been a good one for the BMC Racing Team. In addition to Pinotti’s stage win last year, the BMC Racing Team also had two riders in the top 10 overall (Steve Morabito was second and Pinotti was sixth) and in 2011, Greg Van Avermaet – who is also on this year’s roster – won a stage. “With Mathias Frank on great form, I think he can have a really good week,” Stewart said. “We have a really strong roster for all of the stage finishes so we will have many options.”

Jalabert Positive
French sports newspaper; L’Equipe has reported that Laurent Jalabert has been found positive for EPO in a retroactive drug control from the 1998 Tour de France. The test was taken after stage 11 to Plateau de Beille, at that time there was no test for EPO and as such cannot be considered as a positive because there was no test or law at that time. Jalabert is amazed that this has come out, as there was no mention of it when he testified to a French Senate Commission into doping. The French champion told the commission that: “I can’t firmly say that I’ve never taken anything illegal.” He said to RTL that “Of course, it hurts. Five days before the Tour, I would have liked something else. Only my name came out and my reputation is tarnished. I don’t want to argue, I don’t have any proof.” Jalabert has also pulled out of his Tour de France TV (France Télévision) and radio (RTL) work for this year stating; “In order to be able to prepare a calm defence when the time comes, I have decided of my own volition to stop my work as a consultant with different media.” Adding “I am the subject of revelations that were brought to my attention by way of the press and without any legal element. I don’t want these events to spoil the celebrations for the 100th Tour de France or damage the image of my partners.” Cedric Vasseur will be taking over Jalabert’s TV position during the Tour.

Jose Rujano Retires
The Venezuelan climber; Jose Rujano has announced his retirement from professional cycling in the Diario de los Andes. Rujano has had many problems throughout his career switching from team to team, never staying for long in any of them. His latest problem was his alleged connection with a doping ring in Italy that was trafficking EPO. Rujano has not raced since the Tour of Romandia back in April. According to his present team; Vacansoleil-DCM he has not informed them of his future plans.

No Tour of Denmark for Christina Watches
The Continental team Christina Watches-Onfone has not been invited to its home race, the Tour of Denmark, instead lower ranked teams; Team Cult Energy, Team Concordia Forsikring-Riwal, Blue Water Cycling and Team Tre-For have been chosen ahead of them. The team remarked; “We are highly surprised to have received the message that we are not selected for the Tour of Denmark. As Denmark’s highest ranking Continental cycling team, it is not easy to understand.” The team had banked on starting and had suggested that it may stop at the end of the year if it didn’t receive a “Wild Card” invitation. Having Stefan Schumacher and (now retired) Michael Rasmussen on the team roster may have had some bearing on the race’s decision.

Rasmussen Loses Court Case
The case of Rasmussen versus Rabobank has been finalised with the decision going to Rabobank. This was an appeal to the original case between the two parties where the court in Utrecht found in favour of Rasmussen, in that there had not been sufficient grounds for the dismissal of Rasmussen after his removal from the 2007 Tour de France by the team due to the Dane lying about his whereabouts before the Tour. In that case Rasmussen was awarded €665,000 in damages, but both parties where not happy with the decision and both appealed. Rasmussen wanted up to €5.6 million for loss of earning, claiming that the team knew all along where he was and didn’t do anything about it earlier.

Anyway the appeal court in Arnhem reversed the original decision and has ordered Rasmussen to repay most of the original €665,000. Rasmussen’s admission to using many different drugs during his career had no bearing on the case as it was a labour law case. He has three weeks to decide if he wants to take the case to a higher court.

Team NetApp-Endura Receives “Wild Card” for Poland TourPress Release: Team NetApp-Endura has secured its eighth wild card for a WorldTour race this season with the Tour de Pologne. Participation in the Poland tour will play a crucial role in the team’s preparation for the Vuelta a España.

“We’re pleased about the invitation for various reasons. It will be a stress test with the WorldTour teams for our classification riders shortly before the Vuelta. The organizers have designed a demanding profile that should play to our strengths. The mountain stages in Trentino are suited to us and we should also be well prepared for the hilly stages in Poland. And with Bartosz Huzarski we have an experienced rider on the team who has already completed the race in the Top 10,” commented Ralph Denk, team manager of Team NetApp-Endura, the wild card.

The tour is being carried out for the 70th time this year. In celebration of the anniversary, the event organizers have moved the start of the race to Italy, where with two demanding mountain stages in the Dolomites a preliminary decision can already be made. After that, five additional stages will be carried out, including a time trial, in the south of Poland. The tour takes place from July 27 to August 3 and will run over 1,227 kilometers.

At this year’s edition of the Poland tour there will be a test run of the UCI. Instead of the otherwise customary eight riders, the team will be reduced to six riders. With this change it is hoped the race will be more exciting since it will be more difficult to control the race with the reduced team size.

NetApp-Endura’s Bartosz Huzarski:Photo. Team NetApp-Endura.

Cannondale Pro Cycling – The Sequel
Cannondale will launch the second issue of the Cannondale Gazette this June for the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France. The free digital magazine created by Cannondale in partnership with peloton magazine will go live on Wednesday, June 26, and bring to life the excitement of Cannondale Pro Cycling and the race. The Cannondale Gazette Tour de France edition includes information for fans on the team and the race with key stages to watch, an exclusive interview with Peter Sagan on winning the Green Jersey in last year’s race, wines of the 2013 Tour de France and much more.

The digital version of the Cannondale Gazette Tour de France edition will be featured for download on iTunes, Android, and Kindle, and at www.cannondale.com/TourdeFrance.

The PEZ NEWSWIRE!
Don’t forget to check the “NEWSWIRE” section, you can find it down the right hand side on the home page, just above the EuroTrash section. The bits of news that missed the EuroTrash deadline are in there, plus any news as-it-happens will be in there too.